Ask Dave

[DavidH]

You must have missed this part of the post. " (unless ill or on holiday) " A lot changes can happen in two and a half years. Have you never found yourself "otherwise disposed" for a couple of days?

 

You may also have missed that the UK is just getting back to work after an reasonably regular annual shutdown. It's only being going on for about last two millennia.

Perhaps you missed that too? 

 

Give the guy a break.

 

Porcy

 

Unless ill? UK shutdown? But Dave has posted and is posting elsewhere, including the end of year report, and has responded to others elsewhere, not to mention that this thread is the "ask Dave" thread, so it's a question that's hardly hidden away where no one is likely to look.

 

So ... I think norman is well within his right to ask about the promised 48 hour reply. It certainly didn't require "FFS" in your reply.

[Porcy Mane]

 Ah right. Glad you noticed he's giving updates in other threads. That saves him duplicating things on this thread. Maybe it might be an idea that Norm & yourself  pass your personal E mail Addy's on to Mr Jones in the hope he'll let you know the next time he's about to break wind.

 

P

[norman]

 Ah right. Glad you noticed he's giving updates in other threads. That saves him duplicating things on this thread. Maybe it might be an idea that Norm & yourself  pass your personal E mail Addy's on to Mr Jones in the hope he'll let you know the next time he's about to break wind.

 

P

Hello Porcy

 

Strange but I have not noticed any updates from Dave on O gauge but if he has please point me to it, I am very interested in this element of Dave's projected programme..

With thanks in advance.

Norman

[Porcy Mane]

I'm sure Mr Jones is the person to ask. Sounds like an update is pretty important to you so perhaps try the PM system. 

[norman]

I'm sure Mr Jones is the person to ask. Sounds like an update is pretty important to you so perhaps try the PM system. 

Hi Porcy

Yes it is of real interest to me - that's why I have posted the question about O gauge and I thought the "Ask Dave" forum was the best place to ask the question, especially as Dave has promised to reply within 48 hours. You don't get commitments like that from many.

Norman

[Hilux5972]

Hi Porcy

Yes it is of real interest to me - that's why I have posted the question about O gauge and I thought the "Ask Dave" forum was the best place to ask the question, especially as Dave has promised to reply within 48 hours. You don't get commitments like that from many.

Norman

Dave did say that the N Gauge models would follow the OO Gauge, with the O Gauge following the N Gauge ones. Since he has said the N Gauge ones will now begin work, the O Gauge ones will follow on when the N Gauge ones start to come through.

 

Regards, Ryan

[DavidH]

 Ah right. Glad you noticed he's giving updates in other threads. That saves him duplicating things on this thread. Maybe it might be an idea that Norm & yourself  pass your personal E mail Addy's on to Mr Jones in the hope he'll let you know the next time he's about to break wind.

 

P

 

Yes, updates. Not answers to questions posed by, e.g. Norman. And not just Norman, other questions have been left hanging.

 

You seem to be attacking people for asking questions on the Ask Dave thread, and I'm puzzled as to why you're so angry about it.

 

Mr Jones does in fact have my email address, but I'm sure it wouldn't be appropriate for me to demand special treatment.

[DJM Dave]

I note that in Dave Jones end of year report 2016 there is no mention of O gauge. We can only hope that in the upcoming 2017 programme that there may be some opportunity to progress the Austerity and/or baby Deltic.  As time marches on they seems to be only a remote chance.

It is necessary to ask again if progress is not possible, will the planned foray into O gauge be delivered or not?

 

Norman 

 

PS I wonder too what happened to the 48 hours response promised in post #1?

Hi Norman,

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you.

I'm sorry there was no mention of the O gauge projects in my end of year report, but I felt that it was getting a bit wordy, and I had in fact replied to a similar question within the last 6 weeks or so about the same thing in the DJM area, so I felt that leaving the info out, along with info on the other announced loco's and keeping the posting as pertinent to the next 12 Months as possible was the best thing.

 

Rest assured no O gauge, N gauge or OO gauge announcement (except for N gauge cars) has been shelved, and the business plan outlined elsewhere is still pertinent for all gauges in a specific order as cash becomes available.

 

Hope this helps and sorry again for the delay.

Cheers

Dave

[Porcy Mane]

You seem to be attacking people for asking questions on the Ask Dave thread, and I'm puzzled as to why you're so angry about it.

 

I'm not attacking anybody. Merely commenting on observations made on comments made on a internet forum. Regarding the anger bit, no not me,but you do seem a little piqued judging by your subsequent posts.

 

Since Mr Jones made his statement regarding replies within 48 hours over two and half years ago, a lot train sets, hot air and insults have passed under various bridges. His business policies and philosophies may have changed and after reading some of the derogatory comments about DJ models elsewhere on the interweb it would never have surprised me if Mr Jones had decided to cease all dialogue with prospective customers.

I imagine Mr Jones is running his business single handily and if that is the case the simple fact that he finds the time to provide updates at all is impressive.

 

There could be a multitude of reasons why questions have not been answered within a given timeframe. It obviously means a lot to both yourself and Norman, so I would have thought contacting Mr Jones directly rather than make a gripe in public would have been a better way forward but hey ho, it was your call.

 

As I said, "give the guy a break".

 

After saying all the above I'd better say I have never met Mr Jones and have no connection whatsoever. (even as a customer).

 

Btw David do you know Norman?

 

Cross post with Mr Jones, with your queries being answered so I guess everything is now sweetness & light within the  O gauge world.

[norman]

Hi Norman,

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you.

I'm sorry there was no mention of the O gauge projects in my end of year report, but I felt that it was getting a bit wordy, and I had in fact replied to a similar question within the last 6 weeks or so about the same thing in the DJM area, so I felt that leaving the info out, along with info on the other announced loco's and keeping the posting as pertinent to the next 12 Months as possible was the best thing.

 

Rest assured no O gauge, N gauge or OO gauge announcement (except for N gauge cars) has been shelved, and the business plan outlined elsewhere is still pertinent for all gauges in a specific order as cash becomes available.

 

Hope this helps and sorry again for the delay.

Cheers

Dave

Hello Dave

Thanks for your reply and your apology accepted of course.

I'm looking forward to both the J94 and baby Deltic and wish you well for the future.

However, it would be good if you could give some idea of timescales so that we can all plan our spending.  

Pocket money is burning a hole and I would hope for some goodies in 2017.

Norman 

[leavesontheline]

Hello Dave,

 

Just a general question regarding OO gauge loco design (maybe more applicable to co-co/bo-bo diesel and electric bogie driven models rather than steam) and motive power selection....

 

Given how over recent years coreless brushless motors have become much cheaper, widely available and smaller, would there be any cost savings to be made either in parts count/costs or labour (assembly) costs by ditching the common method within such models, with one large motor, two driveshafts (one to each bogie) and a relatively complex gear-train setup but instead using multiple tiny coreless brushless motors per bogie (maybe even one per axle?) with much simpler reduction gearing. In other words like the prototype just without the large diesel/generator powering the traction motors!

 

I can quickly see that there could be some downsides, such as the low torque from these tiny motors, or trying to match the output from each motor, and lack of rotational inertia in the drive-train (although small flywheels could be fitted) but I just wondered if anyone involved in model loco design had ever considered this approach?

 

I have some of these type of motors in some toy radio controlled helicopters and they are amazing little things!

 

Even in large O gauge and gauge 1 models they seem to go for one or two motors located remotely in the loco body with complex mechanical transmission rather than pushing them down into the bogie area. 

 

If I had the time I could probably sit down and go through some motor torque and velocity calcs and suitable gear ratios for a OO model and I might find it wouldn't work out but I thought it would be quicker just to go to one of the experts!

 

Thanks in advance! 

[DJM Dave]

Hello Dave,

 

Just a general question regarding OO gauge loco design (maybe more applicable to co-co/bo-bo diesel and electric bogie driven models rather than steam) and motive power selection....

 

Given how over recent years coreless brushless motors have become much cheaper, widely available and smaller, would there be any cost savings to be made either in parts count/costs or labour (assembly) costs by ditching the common method within such models, with one large motor, two driveshafts (one to each bogie) and a relatively complex gear-train setup but instead using multiple tiny coreless brushless motors per bogie (maybe even one per axle?) with much simpler reduction gearing. In other words like the prototype just without the large diesel/generator powering the traction motors!

 

I can quickly see that there could be some downsides, such as the low torque from these tiny motors, or trying to match the output from each motor, and lack of rotational inertia in the drive-train (although small flywheels could be fitted) but I just wondered if anyone involved in model loco design had ever considered this approach?

 

I have some of these type of motors in some toy radio controlled helicopters and they are amazing little things!

 

Even in large O gauge and gauge 1 models they seem to go for one or two motors located remotely in the loco body with complex mechanical transmission rather than pushing them down into the bogie area. 

 

If I had the time I could probably sit down and go through some motor torque and velocity calcs and suitable gear ratios for a OO model and I might find it wouldn't work out but I thought it would be quicker just to go to one of the experts!

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Hi mate,

Thanks for the mail.

 

I fully understand your comments but to be honest i am but a small fish in a very large pond, so I'll not be going down that side of it until someone spends multi hundreds of thousands of pounds on developing it, and even then I'd be sceptoical the viability over the tried , tested, workin and accepted system we use now.

 

Cheers

Dave

[DJM Dave]

Hello Dave

Thanks for your reply and your apology accepted of course.

I'm looking forward to both the J94 and baby Deltic and wish you well for the future.

However, it would be good if you could give some idea of timescales so that we can all plan our spending.  

Pocket money is burning a hole and I would hope for some goodies in 2017.

Norman

 

Hi Norman,

 

Thanks for the mail.

Unfortunately, due to cash flow and my business plan i am no in a position to give timescales as things are very fluid right now with exchange rates , production slots etc.

What i will do is very occassionally update everything i can, unless, like the New Years report it goes on a lot and risks boring everyone.

The best thing for me to say is that if there is no news it wont be updated.

When I have something to say that shows progress beyond what you currently know I'll put something up here.

I hope tha makes some sort of sense?

Cheers

Dave

[DJM Dave]

Hi everyone,

Please note I'm out of the country from tomorrow (Monday) morning for 1 week, and a such replies to any posts on the DJM partition might be difficult until i return

 

Cheers

Dave

[leavesontheline]

Hi mate,

Thanks for the mail.

I fully understand your comments but to be honest i am but a small fish in a very large pond, so I'll not be going down that side of it until someone spends multi hundreds of thousands of pounds on developing it, and even then I'd be sceptoical the viability over the tried , tested, workin and accepted system we use now.

Cheers

Dave

Okay, thanks for taking the time to reply Dave. Fair point, the old 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' adage is very relevant, but there comes a point when technology moves on and I think to myself 'why do we still do x that way'! I'd be surprised if someone tinkering in their shed hasn't already attempted this! Maybe when I get a spare few weekends.......!

[sp1]

Hi Dave

I know this thread is aimed at asking you questions, but I would like to say a huge thank you for your collaboration with Hattons to produce the 14xx (etc) model - very pleased with mine, and will be buying more when they become available (although what layout I could build that would use about 6 of them is beyond me!!!)

 

I also commend you on the quality of the packaging- the added foam and sturdy box is a vast improvement on the flimsy outer cardboard used by others.....

[Miss Prism]

I can quickly see that there could be some downsides, such as the low torque from these tiny motors, or trying to match the output from each motor, and lack of rotational inertia in the drive-train (although small flywheels could be fitted) but I just wondered if anyone involved in model loco design had ever considered this approach?

 

There have been attempts at the axle-mounted motors approach (google 'Railflyer' for a recently-failed historical example), but you've listed most of the pitfalls, which are very significant. The micro motors have extremely small torque, the associated geartrains occupy a lot of space and require precision engineering, and there needs to be a boxfull of expensive control electronics to attempt to synchronise the motor rotations. For low-power underfloor applications like a DMU, small motors have a good application, but motor shafts need to be mechanically ganged to each other to synchronise the shaft speeds where more than one motor is used. For larger locos, the multi-motor approach becomes needlessly expensive.

[Hilux5972]

Hi Dave.

Do you still plan to release the OO Gauge Raven Q6 since Hornbys model is already out?

Cheers, Ryan

[alibuchan]

Hi Dave.

Do you still plan to release the OO Gauge Raven Q6 since Hornbys model is already out?

Cheers, Ryan

This was cancelled when Hornby announced theirs and showed off the prototype model, way back in November 2015.

 

Alistair

[Ruston]

Dear Dave,

 

Given that the OO gauge Hornby Peckett has seemingly been an outstanding sales success, and the fact that you're not against doing industrial locos (as shown with your Austerities), have you any plans to make a small 0-4-0ST yourself - perhaps an Andrew Barclay type?

[gardenwall]

There have been attempts at the axle-mounted motors approach (google 'Railflyer' for a recently-failed historical example), but you've listed most of the pitfalls, which are very significant. The micro motors have extremely small torque, the associated geartrains occupy a lot of space and require precision engineering, and there needs to be a boxfull of expensive control electronics to attempt to synchronise the motor rotations. For low-power underfloor applications like a DMU, small motors have a good application, but motor shafts need to be mechanically ganged to each other to synchronise the shaft speeds where more than one motor is used. For larger locos, the multi-motor approach becomes needlessly expensive.

Can be done in O gauge using ABC traction motors - not cheap but then the equivalent quality gearboxes are not cheap either. Waiting list is huge though.  AFAIK they are just wired in parallel, no complex electronics is required, each drive will apply traction to the limit of its power input as long as you operate below slip. One is advised not to over weight the model, if you want more traction just power more axles.  2 axles is supposed to be good for 8 coach units, but a single in a four can be prone to slip.  (one assumes level track only)

[Hilux5972]

This was cancelled when Hornby announced theirs and showed off the prototype model, way back in November 2015.

 

Alistair

Thanks. I missed that. Just seen it was still on his website so wasn't sure

[Les1952]

Dear Dave,

 

Given that the OO gauge Hornby Peckett has seemingly been an outstanding sales success, and the fact that you're not against doing industrial locos (as shown with your Austerities), have you any plans to make a small 0-4-0ST yourself - perhaps an Andrew Barclay type?

 

Dave had said that he wanted to develop a range of industrial 0-6-0 tanks long-term, and has said nothing about 0-4-0 tanks as far as I remember. 

 

Hope this helps, even though it may be out of date.

 

Les

[autocoach]

Hi everyone,

Please note I'm out of the country from tomorrow (Monday) morning for 1 week, and a such replies to any posts on the DJM partition might be difficult until i return

 

Cheers

Dave

Dave's either in China or <<Fake News> here in California talking to a certain brass importer expanding to plastic about an HO Southern Pacific C-9 2-8-0 with three optional tenders. <End Fake News>>.. don't we have fake news emoticons?

Edited January 12, 2017 by autocoach

[Mark Saunders]

Dear Dave,

 

Given that the OO gauge Hornby Peckett has seemingly been an outstanding sales success, and the fact that you're not against doing industrial locos (as shown with your Austerities), have you any plans to make a small 0-4-0ST yourself - perhaps an Andrew Barclay type?

The Hornby Sentinel has now been produced with two chassis and several liveries!

 

Oxfoford has their Janus due and the BSC one is already sold out!

 

Then there is the potential for more industrial liveries on wagons that are in several manufacturers ranges; the LNER XX in Coalite from Hornby and MoD VDA all due! Bachmann having done a triple pack of Manvers 16 ton minerals!

 

Mark Saunders